How did missing Brownstown woman die? Autopsy fails to solve mystery

May 24, 2013

Lizzie Mae Collier-Sweet / Detroit Free Press file photo

Written by

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

The cause of death for a Brownstown Township woman who went missing six years ago is still a mystery.

The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office examined the remains of Lizzie Mae Collier-Sweet, 49, but wasn’t able to determine how she died, a spokeswoman for the county said Friday.

Collier-Sweet went missing in January 2007 around the time a fire broke out at her house.

In February, a man hunting for deer antlers in a wooded part of the township found a human skull. Other skeletal remains were located in the same area, police said at the time. Tests later confirmed that the skull belonged to Collier-Sweet.

Collier-Sweet's husband, Roger Sweet, has long been a suspect in his wife's disappearance. Sweet was convicted of killing his first wife after authorities reopened an investigation into her 1990 death — prompted by Collier-Sweet's disappearance.